Fastening devices



Nov. 2, 1965 H. PRESTON 3,214,734

FASTENING DEVICES Filed Sept. 15, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnvenlor HARRYPREST N By v M Attorneys Nov. 2, 1965 H. PRESTON 3,214,734

FASTENING DEVICES Filed Sept. 13, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I nvenlor HARRYPR ESTON yf 6 augf Attorney United States Patent Office 3,214,784Patented Nov. 2, 1965 3,214,784 FASTENING DEVICES Harry Preston, London,England, assignor to Copydex Limited, London, England, a corporation ofGreat Britain Filed Sept. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 308,895 Claims priority,application Great Britain, Sept. 19, 1962, 35,736/ 62 7 Claims. (CL 168)This invention relates to fastening devices and in particular tofastening devices for holding laid carpets or the like such as carpetunder-felt in position and includes holding stair carpets in position.

Carpets are conventionally secured in position when laid on a floor bytacks or similar fixing means pinned through the carpet to the floor.Such fixing means are however laborious in use and necessitate the useof tacklifters or like tools for lifting the carpet. Stair carpets canbe similarly fixed or can be held in place by rods or clips secured inthe angles between the treads and the risers upstanding therefrom, butthe carpets, unless secured at the top of the flight of stairs, tend tocreep downwardly beneath the rods or clips.

It has been proposed to provide carpet holders in the form of strips ofrigid material secured to the floor or stair surfaces, the strips havingupstanding points onto which the carpet can be impaled. To avoid thecarpets slipping off the points these may be directed away from thedirection of pull on the carpet, the tension in which holds the carpetson the points. In such fasteners the points must be above the level ofthe strip and are either parallel to the strip surface so that when thecarpet is trodden on they flatten, or the points are made to stand upvertical-1y from the strip which necessitates a specially designedapparatus for forming the points on the strips.

The main object of the present invention is to provide such a carpetsecuring strip having points engaged by the carpet and held thereon bythe tension in the laid carpet, which will withstand the weight ofpeople walking over the carpet and the pointed strip beneath it, andwill be easy to manufacture in a simple stamping or like operation.

According to the present invention a strip carpet securing devicecomprises an elongated strip of substantially rigid material havingupstanding therefrom out of the surface of the strip a number of spacedpointed elements, each element being bent at an oblique angle to thestrip and pointing transversely of the longitudinal axis of the strip sothat in use the carpet laid over the fixed strip and drawn thereoverwill be engaged by the points and held in position.

In a preferred construction the strip is made of sheet metal such asrolled or tensile steel about A inch thick and one or two inches wide.The points are formed as cut-outs from the strip with their roots bentout of the plane of the strip and their pointed portions bent up wardlyand rotated about their longitudinal axes. The points may be at anysuitable acute angle to the strip, e.g. 15, in both the longitudinal andtransverse direction of the strip. The points are sharp to facilitatetheir piercing the textile fibres of the carpet.

In a modified construction for fixing stair carpets the strip is bentlongitudinally in the region of its centre line to form a right anglemember, in each arm of which the points are formed, the points allfacing the angle of the strip.

In yet another construction for use in securing two superposed floorcoverings, e.g. an underlay and a carpet thereover, said device is bentlongitudinally in a 'L-shape the two horizontal portions of which arevertically spaced by the thickness of the lowermost floor covering andare each provided with one or more rows of points for separatelysecuring the two floor coverings.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood oneconstruction in accordance therewith will now be described by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a right angular strip foruse in fixing a stair carpet;

FIG. 2 to 5 are cross-sections drawn to a larger scale, respectivelyalong the lines II-II, IIIHI, IV--IV and VV looking in the direction ofthe arrows; and

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a modified construction for use withtwo superposed floor coverings.

In the drawings the same references are used to designate the sameparts. Although the embodiment shown in FIGURES l to 5 is in the form ofa right-angular strip, a flat strip may be used for fixing carpets onfloors and may have points in one direction, or for making a jointbetween two pieces of carpet, may have two spaced rows of points facingin generally opposite directions.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5 the carpet fastening device comprises a strip1 bent along or near its central line 2 into two arms 3, 4 at rightangles one to the other. Spaced along the strip is a number of sharppoints 5, one row in each of the arms 3, 4, although additional rows maybe provided on one or both the arms. In the case of the angular stripshown the points in the two arms face in opposite directions so that theangle of a stair carpet can be fixed thereto.

The points are cut out of the strip and the portion 6 around the pointsis preferably removed for easier working of the point material. Thestrip at the root 7 of a point is bent upwardly preferably as shown inthe form of a partial dome 8 from one end of which the point materialextends. The point thus formed is substantially a spherical trianglehaving a base forming an are 7 integrally secured to the strip material.The cut-out 6 has one side which intersects the ends of are 7, and thesides of triangular dome 8 meet said arc on an edge of the cut-out. Asseen in FIG. 5 the point is upstanding at an angle a to the plane of thestrip, e.g. 15, but its sharp point can be bent to a smaller angle a ifdesired. The blade of the point is preferably also bent as shown inFIGS. 2-4 about its longitudinal axis so that in the direction of thelength of the strip it is at an oblique or obtuse angle thereto, i.e.and the point may be slightly spiral or helical in shape from its rootto its sharp point.

The strip may be secured to the floor or stair treads and risers by anyconventional means, e.g. by adhesives, by headed nails or screws withtheir heads engaging the strip edge, by nails or screws passing throughholes 9 in the strip, or by points secured to or cut out of the stripand directed at or nearly at a right angle to the strip.

The strip is preferably of metal, but may be of any rigid material suchas plastic and the points may be mounted thereon.

It will be seen that when the strip is secured to the surface to becarpeted, the carpet can be laid over the strip and pulled thereoveraway from the direction of the points so that the points enter thecarpet material to hold it. The domed shape of the point roots reinforces the strip and the teeth so that they are not materially deformedwhen walked over.

Referring to FIG. 6, this shows a modification of a carpet securingdevice for use where superposed floor coverings, such as a carpet and anunderfelt, are each separately gripped by the one securing device. InFIG. 6 the carpet securing device comprises a 'L shaped channel sectionhaving two horizontal portions 10 and 11 interconnected by a verticalportion 12, and portion 12 having a height substantially equal to thethickness of the felt in use. Each horizontal portion 10 and 11 hasformed therein sharp points similar to those described with reference toFIGS. 1-5. In use, the device is laid at the edge of the carpet, as forexample against the skirting board 13 and the felt is disposed with itsedge abutting the vertical portion 12 and forced onto the points 5 onthe portion 11. The carpet being larger than the area of the felt isthen laid over the felt and fixed onto the points 5 on the portion 10.

It may be that such a construction in use will have to withstand loadssuch as heavy furniture placed upon it close to a wall and therefore theportion might tend to bend downwardly under the load. As shown in FIG.6, the construction is provided with a reinforcement to withstand such aload, this being effected by having a portion 14 cut out of the portions10 and 12 and shaped to form a piece 15 along the floor and a verticalpiece 16 against the skirting board. Screws or light securing means 17may be passed through holes in one or both these portions to fix them inposition, but any suitable securing means such as spikes may beemployed. If desired, only the portion 16 may be cut out from theportion 12 and bent downwardly to form a leg, but in addition oralternatively similar portions may be formed mid-width of or elsewherein the portion 10 and a number of such reinforcements or legs may beprovided throughout the length of the device.

It is also possible that this construction shown in FIG. 6 may be usedwith stair carpets, where there are strips of felt on the treads of thestairs and in that event it would be desirable to supply an upwardlyextending portion 18 from the portion 10, as indicated in dotted linesin FIG. 6, such portion being provided also with pins 5 for securing theriser of the carpet extending between the two treads.

WhatIclaim is: 1. A carpet securing device comprising an elongated stripof substantially rigid metal having a number of points spaced therealongand upstanding at an acute angle from fthe surface of said strip withtheir medial axes disposed transversely to the longitudinal axis of saidstrip, said points each being a substantially spherical triangle havinga base forming an arc integrally secured to said strip, 7 said trianglebeing formed by a cut-out one side of which intersects the ends of saidarc, the said are and the sides of the triangle meeting at points on anedge of the cutout.

2. A carpet securing device according to claim 1 wherein the strip is ofsheet steel approximately inch thick wherein the strip is bentlongitudinally in the region of its centre line to form a right anglemember, in each arm of which said spaced points are provided, the pointsall facing into the angle in the strip.

4. A carpet securing device for use in securing two superposed sheetfloor covering materials such as a carpet and an underlay to a floorsurface, comprising an elongated strip of rigid metal, said strip beingbent longitudinally to form an angle having upper and lower oppositelydisposed horizontal flanges connected by a vertical web having a heightequal to the thickness of a lower floor covering, a number of points ineach of said horizontal flanges spaced therealong and upstanding fromthe surface of said flange, said points being formed as wedge-shapedcut-outs from the material of said strip and bent to an acute angle tosaid surface with their medial axes disposed transversely to thelongitudinal axis of said strip, and each of said cut-outs having itsbase integral with said strip and being curved from its base to itssharp tip transversely of its said medial axis, whereby in use saidfloor coverings laid over, pressed downwardly on to said strip, andsubjected to tension away from said strip in the direction of saidmedial axes will be impaled on said points and held in position.

5. A carpet securing device according to claim 4 wherein said upperhorizontal flange has spacing members extending therefrom to the floorto prevent said flange bending downwardly under any load supportedthereon.

6. A carpet securing device according to claim 5 wherein the spacingmembers are each formed of portions partly removed from the upperhorizontal portion and turned substantially vertically downwards, suchturned down portions being of a length to engage the floor.

7. A carpet securing device according to claim 6 wherein at least someof said spacing members are partly removed from the upper horizontal andvertical flanges to form a portion disposed along the floor and asubstan tially vertical portion forming a weight support for the upperhorizontal flange.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,724,288 8/29 LaBrecque 16-4 2,732,579 'l/56 Farr l6l6 2,958,895 11/60 Sarkissian l6l63,008,173 11/61 Goss et al. l6l6 FOREIGN PATENTS 838,127 6/60 GreatBritain.

JOSEPH D. SEERS, Primary Examiner. DQNLEY J. STOCKING, Examiner.

1. A CARPET SECURING DEVICE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED STRIP OFSUBSTANTIALLY RIGID METAL HAVING A NUMBER OF POINTS SPACED THEREALONGAND UPSTANDING AT AN ACUTE ANGLE FROM THE SURFACE OF SAID STRIP WITHTHEIR MEDIAL AXES DISPOSED TRANSVERSELY TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAIDSTRIP, SAID POINTS EACH BEING A SUBSTANTIALLY SPHERICAL TRIANGLE HAVINGA BASE FORMING AN ARC INTEGRALLY SECURED TO SAID STRIP, SAID TRIANGLEBEING FORMED BY A CUT-OUT ONE SIDE OF WHICH INTERSECTS THE ENDS OF SAIDARC, THE SAID ARC AND THE SIDES OF THE TRIANGLE MEETING AT POINTS ON THEEDGE OF THE CUTOUT.